Chapter 851: Chapter 851

Tan Qingying leaped from the Black Emperor’s back using the last of her strength. She threw her dry and frail arms around Li Xiaofei from behind. Her heart pressed against his back as if she were trying to use its still-beating warmth to reignite the dying flame of life in Li Xiaofei’s heartless body.

But it was all in vain. Tan Qingying could clearly feel the body in her arms growing colder with every passing second. She could also feel, unmistakably, that her own energy, her life force, and her very soul were all being drawn out of her.

She watched as her body withered rapidly, like a yellowed leaf falling from a branch in late autumn. It was drained of moisture, and stripped of vitality. Still, Tan Qingying did not let go. Instead, she held on tighter.

If life must one day come to an end, then Tan Qingying did not long for some perfect, ideal finale. To have their love reach its peak, only to be severed in that moment of intensity—wasn’t that, in its own way, a kind of happiness? At the very least, she could die together with the one she loved most.

Below, the bloodied Black Emperor was nearly flat as it strained against the pressure of the Heavenly Pillar. Its injuries were grave, as blood oozed from between its fur. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, it lunged forward and bit down on Li Xiaofei’s leg. This bite had nothing to do with love. It was about not wanting to betray the meaning of their fated encounter.

It was about a bond of friendship; the days spent walking side by side and the unwillingness to lose someone important. Or rather, perhaps it was a desperate desire to offer everything, including its life, its soul, in exchange for the chance of a miracle.

As expected, in that very instant, a terrifying suction began violently draining the Black Emperor of everything within it. It was draining all of his energy, flesh, marrow, spirit, and life force...

The deep crimson on the three segments of the Heavenly Pillar grew even more piercing to the eyes. The densely packed blood threads flowing through its carved lines were now fully saturated, pulsing with strange, rune-like patterns that slithered across the surface. Slowly, a mysterious and ominous transformation began to take shape within the Heavenly Pillar.

A single metallic resonance rang out from the Heavenly Pillar without warning. A strange vibration was born from it. The tremor traveled through the Heavenly Pillar, passed into Li Xiaofei's hands, and then, as if striking a chord, it surged through his entire body in an instant.

His skin immediately disintegrated into fine dust, scattering into the air. Only a skeletal frame remained. Tan Qingying and the Black Emperor were no exceptions. Swept by that same shockwave, their desiccated muscles and bones crumbled into powder and dispersed into the void, leaving behind only tightly bound skeletal remains...

"No... it shouldn’t be !" Little Aunt, struggling to maintain control of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, did everything she could to preserve the balance of the force field around Doushuai Palace. She tried to prevent the three skeletons from being utterly obliterated by the Mother of All Beasts’ annihilation force.

Luo Ge’s body trembled on the verge of collapse, incapable of offering any aid. As for Lin Yi, having lost her cultivation, she had long since fallen unconscious.

Another metallic chime rang out as the soundwave spread outward. A visible crimson ripple expanded like a sonic wave. This strange energy collided with the surrounding annihilation force and transformed into a swirl of gray chaos. It flared for a brief instant then swiftly vanished within the fabric of space itself.

The approaching Mother of All Beasts faltered slightly. A flicker of suspicion and confusion flashed within its massive golden vertical eye. Its golden gaze landed on the Heavenly Pillar like thunder, filled with a destructive might capable of ending worlds.

A third metallic resonance rang out and another crimson ripple spread out like an expanding shockwave, dispersing the golden beam of destruction. It was shattered, undone, and vanished.

At that same moment, a faint layer of powder drifted away from the surface of Li Xiaofei’s skeleton. His once-white bones took on a crystalline, jade-like sheen. It was purified, as though all impurities had been meticulously removed.

The strange metallic chimes echoed in rhythmic pulses, like the beating of a heart. Each time the sound rang out, a thin layer of powder was shaken free from Li Xiaofei’s skeletal frame, drifting gently into the air.

The same began to happen to the skeletal remains of Tan Qingying and the Black Emperor. After a dozen or so resonant strikes, Li Xiaofei's bones had transformed into a unique metallic sheen. It was now an alternating blend of gold and silver, radiating a sacred, mysterious aura.

Tan Qingying's skeleton turned a soft, golden hue. The Black Emperor’s bones took on a pale silver tone. Layer after layer of impurities were shaken loose from all three skeletons. The scene was eerily surreal.

Below, Little Aunt felt her heart leap to her throat.

Could this be... a turning point?

Meanwhile, the Mother of All Beasts let out a furious roar. It seemed to recognize something, as if it had seen a sworn enemy. It began to gather its vast energy, condensing it into a singular, apocalyptic force of destruction. It was preparing to obliterate both Doushuai Palace and the Heavenly Pillar in a single, all-consuming blow.

But just then, the Heavenly Pillar underwent a shocking transformation. Its mottled, stone-white exterior began to fall away as if some invisible, divine hand was swiftly carving and refining it.

Flakes of stone fell in cascades and the pillar started to rapidly shrink, revealing a white longsword. The part Li Xiaofei was holding was the sword's hilt. It was as if time itself had reversed. Thin, red threads of blood began to unfurl from the white longsword’s hilt.

They crept over Li Xiaofei’s skeletal hands. These blood-red threads began to sculpt new hands like a 3D printer weaving flesh. Then arms. Then upper arms, a torso, and finally a head.

In the span of a single breath, a brand new Li Xiaofei, complete with flesh and blood, was fully ‘printed’ over the gold-and-silver skeleton from before. His eyelids twitched lightly. Then slowly, he opened his eyes. Blinding golden and silver light burst forth from his gaze.

“I... resurrected?” Li Xiaofei whispered softly.

He looked down at the jade-colored stone longsword in his hand. Then he turned ever so slightly, and saw Tan Qingying’s skeletal remains tightly clinging to him. Even her once-black hair had turned white as snow. They were dry, tangled, and hanging limply over her bony shoulders...

Li Xiaofei was, in truth, aware of what had just happened. Though his consciousness had been in chaos, he hadn’t been completely unconscious. He had felt everything that occurred around him, including Tan Qingying and the Black Emperor’s desperate efforts to reach him, and the lengths they had gone to in order to save him...

“So this... is the true form of the Blood-Drinking Sword.” Li Xiaofei lifted the white jade sword across his chest, and lightly traced along its blade with two fingers of his left hand.

The sound of the sword rang out. It was the very same metallic resonance that had echoed from the Heavenly Pillar earlier.

A single thread of blood-red light rose from the Blood-Drinking Sword and weaved around the skeletal remains of Tan Qingying and the Black Emperor. In moments, new flesh began to take shape across their bones, rebuilding them into whole, living beings once more. They, too, had been revived.

Tan Qingying’s beautiful eyes were filled with confusion. She stared at Li Xiaofei in astonishment. Then, unable to contain it any longer, her tears burst forth again, pouring down like an unstoppable spring.

But this time, her tears were tears of joy. When the one you love most, someone you thought you had lost forever, suddenly returned before your eyes, whole and unharmed... the sheer joy of that moment is enough to overwhelm your entire soul.

Li Xiaofei reached out and gently touched her face. "Don't cry. We're going to win."

"Woof!" The Black Emperor barked excitedly, wagging its tail wildly at Li Xiaofei. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝※𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖※𝕟𝕖𝕥

Without changing his expression, Li Xiaofei raised a foot and kicked it aside.

Don’t get in the way.

Black Emperor was shocked by his action. But almost at that exact moment—

The Mother of All Beasts had finally finished gathering its energy and unleashed its ultimate move. Its mouth opened wide, and it spat forth a blazing beam of light so dazzling and solid it seemed almost tangible.

This was the strike it had been building up for an eternity. An attack born of fury... and fear. Wherever the beam passed, the void melted like wax under a flame, dissolving into nothingness.

"Watch out!" Little Aunt shouted loudly in warning.

She could tell that this strike carried a level of terrifying energy beyond anything the Eight Trigrams Furnace or even Doushuai Palace could possibly withstand.

But Li Xiaofei merely stepped in front of Tan Qingying, shielding her with his body. Then, raising the sword in his hand, he swung it toward the oncoming beam of annihilation.

One sword stroke. His strongest sword technique.